Page 46 - Security Today, March 2019

Are You Throwing Money Away
Turn your VMS into a data collection device and have it work for you
BMy Scott Seraboff
illions of video surveillance cameras around the world are losing money. Whether analog or digital, these cameras are recording video (and oftentimes audio and metadata) that encompasses more infor- mation than can possibly be seen or understood at
the time of the recording. On average, these systems delete informa- tion after 30 days of collection and begin over again with the next 30 days.
During a 30-day period within one closed system (i.e. a large drug store) valuable information is captured but rarely analyzed for its potential worth. This information can prove inherent in business intelligence.
For example, video surveillance can be reviewed for customer pat- terns, such as how long the customer lingers in one area, or what other products they are making comparisons to. There are an untold number of additional bits of information that can make a business smarter and create revenue by studying this data.
For users of video surveillance systems as well as installers of these operating systems, a critical piece of the pie is missing. While we recognize these cameras collect video data, thinking of them as only cameras ignores a big part of the picture. Think of your cameras as more than just cameras. Think of your cameras as data collection devices (DCD), and with each passing second they collect data that can be used by the business owner as well as by third parties who wish to take that data and analyze it to the benefit of not only themselves, but the end-user.
As an example, 30 cameras during a 24-hour period, throughout 30 days, will record 21,600 hours of video.
While this appears to be a staggering amount of video surveil-
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lance footage, imagine if you could expand this collection to an entire year in one location. Now there are 259,200 hours of stored video, and within those documented hours are tidbits of information that could be of tremendous value to a wide range of potential users. It is not hard to imagine the uses of this data for the business owner; what may be more difficult, however, is to wrap one’s mind around how it can benefit individuals outside the end user’s business.
If video was collected and analyzed from a single location of a major drugstore in Dallas, for example, the collected data could be significant to every single company that sells product through that store. (While this hypothetical store may have no inclination to use the data, a company that sold through that store could, and would have the potential to increase sales through data analysis and perhaps change the way products were placed). Assuming that same drugstore had cameras facing a busy intersection in front of its store, they could analyze traffic patterns as well as their busiest times of the day and maximize employee hours. The potential is truly limitless.
Data collection through video surveillance is an emerging source of revenue which is being destroyed by its users each and every year because its potential and value is simply unrecognized. Collected data is a valuable asset and belongs solely to the business owner. By evaluating and analyzing content, companies can generate revenue, which clearly affects the bottom line. Rather than destroy collected data after 30 days, businesses should learn to evaluate that informa- tion and determine how it can be a revenue generator.
A video monitoring system, and the hardware that goes with it, is an expensive investment. The storage component of this expense is determined by the amount of data that is to be stored. The longer you want to store data (inclusive of account quality and framerate),
DATA STORAGE
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